micro transactions

[UPDATE: Read below for a lovely write up by forum member Roybertito about the game and some of its nuances.]

As seems to be the case with mobile games and their oblong release dates, Sonic Runners bursts out of the warp zone and onto your friendly local digital shop. There are some caveats, however.

As of this time of writing, I am unable to download the title on any of my three Android devices (a Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 2013 running on the latest version of Licorice, and an Xperia X10 running on Gingerbread) on the Google Play Store but those on the Apple side of the digital world have already gotten the game running. Interestingly, the version released is marked as 1.0.0t, representing it’s a test build. Of course, the humor isn’t lost in the event that another Sonic related thing was leaked early, as has seemingly become a trend in some capacity.

Regardless, early reports show the game plays like an auto runner ala Rayman Jungle Run with you in control of Sonic and friends’ movements as they zip through the grassy knolls of Sonic Lost World’sGreen Hill Recolor #29 Windy Hill Zone. And if that isn’t enough to tickle your free-to-play mobile game fancy, plenty of microtransactions are included! One such, as posted over on Sonic Stadium’s Twitter via H Hog, invites players to invite their friends to play the game for a bounty of red star rings and the chance to play as series fan girl and general annoyance, Amy Rose. But only if you get 10 friends to join the game!

Sonic Jump Fever has released today for both iOS and Android platforms today. Unlike the previous Sonic Jump game, its a free-to-play endless jumper that also lets you boost stats of your characters and use items and uncover Chao to increase your score by either playing the game or paying for micro transactions.

There has been no word if the original Sonic Jump will see any future updates, however the game largely plays similarly to the previous Jump game with the introduction to Fever mode where your character shoots up for a brief period of time, collecting rings. Level themes rotate daily and has the usual trappings of a freemium title, including playtime that is limited until your energy “recharges” over time, watching free ads or spending red rings.

I’m a little disappointed that the level progression from the last game is absent, and the new features don’t add that much, though the original game is still not free on Android. For those who haven’t played a Sonic Jump game before, its a decent place to start. Albeit you don’t even start as Sonic until you collect character tokens to unlock him along with the others, probably because each character has different attributes. (You start off with Tails, if you were wondering.) Also for people hoping to see a triumphant return to the Chao Garden, the Chao are additional helper items that will disappear if you don’t use them often enough until you earn their loyalty by using them in the main game. This isn’t quite the Chao Garden app we’ve been waiting for.

Its still largely an arcade game, which is ideal for quick play. Why not give it a try and tell us what you think in the comments? You can also check out E3 impressions by Shigs from SEGAbits here.